Children of War
by Soti 13F
Summary: A militarized Harry and the DA fight against Voldemort's forces alone as child soldiers, sacrificing themselves for a future peace they will never have. The young have inherited the war of hatred their cowardly elders let happen and refuse to assist. Now they commit the sin of heroism. War movie-ish EXTREMELY VIOLENT AND PROFANE -by an army combat veteran -Need beta reader!


**WARNING**

**MUST BE 18 OR OLDER TO READ**

**THIS STORY IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS!** Please read the following author's note if you may be upset or offended in anyway:

This particular fanfiction I made is intended to depict warfare and camaraderie in the Harry Potter universe as I imagine it could be if a few changes to the universe, including mild to significant character adaptations, were to take place. I'll do my best to explain various adaptations seamlessly in the story aside for a chunk at the beginning. Of course I think it would be best that readers should have read the books 1-7 because there are major spoilers and this story may not be as rewarding.

I am a combat veteran of the U.S. army, I apologize if the characters seem more American than British, despite my best attempts not to. I will be using military-type lingo in the characters dialect, but will modify it to be Harry Potter style and try to make it self-explanatory while I go or cleverly translate them while keeping the tempo. I will use some of my life experiences and the stories of other soldiers I have known in this story, modified of course, and keep things as Harry Potter as possible with the rhythm and atmosphere of modernized warfare. Of course there will be many over-the-top cinematic and unrealistic moments as well, but this is to make it a compelling story. If you hate war movies or video games, maybe you shouldn't read this.

There is **EXTREMELY PROFANE LANGUAGE** in this story. The only words I will spare you from are racist terms, such as the N-word and the like. Most people cuss in the military, especially during combat, and it may not be what others feel is right, but I can't write a realistic feel to this story like this one without cursing. And if I'm going to at least go a little, I might as well go a lot.

Also I will write about **INTENSE AND DETAILED VIOLENCE** including injury and killing, both melee and ranged, instant and slow. I will have innocent bystanders and young children being killed and injured. I might even have an infants being dispatched by death eaters or something like that. War does not spare people who you care about, nor does it target those you would prefer. It's war. We all know that, I will make it a major theme here. This I plan will be the defining characteristic of this fanfiction compared to all others I have read before. I will be **EXTREMELY DESCRIPTIVE** with the brutality of war. In this first chapter I'll have school children killing one another. I aim to degrade your mind and soul here. I am hoping the story doesn't get removed for this fact alone, hence this drawn out warning. You may think I'm joking, but I'm serious.

**I WILL NOT DESCRIBE SEX OR RAPE AT ALL.** I might imply or refer to it, but I am not going to do a play-by-play account of it. This is not erotica or something in the deep end of that category. Nudity might be mentioned however.

Despite all this negative and evil crud I will go over I will also try to include touching and heartfelt moments as well. Romance, friendship, drama, and humor, will be used in realistic amounts.

In conclusion I will say I have tried to write a story like this one years in the past on but failed under a different username. So please don't scream plagiarism without confronting me first. I'm not a great writer, but I think I can hold my own. I would like criticism to be constructive. I invite you to read the first chapter at least; I scripted it to be a kind of 'grabber' for readers. Basically it starts off with a bang. If you like it, there's more where that came from, if not, you can stop reading and that's okay too of course. I think I warned you enough.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: This passage is for all the mendacious lawyers who seek to make profit off the labors of hardworking and honest people who would never stoop to your levels of debauchery. This is a non-profit writing based on the novels of J.K. Rowling which she has the complete rights too. I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; any smart person would think if I did I probably wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. I do not own any of the original characters or plot that she has so artfully created. I would like to press however being the second wealthiest woman in the entire world, if I was making a slight profit from this, which I am most certainly not, why would she or anyone working for her care? And once again to all the evil bloodsucking lawyers out there, don't you have some pedophile rapist politician to prevent from being served due and proper justice? It's people like you who should go to war, not the peasants of the modern world. Eat shit and die why don't you...

* * *

**Children of War**

Chapter One

_Compromised_

Gray fog draped eerily about the shrieking shack in the eerie glow of the crescent moon that hung in the air. Autumn leafs rustled in the cold lat September breeze. In this cold desolate structure a golden light ignited, warding off the darkness that consumed the forgotten home.

"That's better," A young man said as he lowered his wand. He hoisted a pot of water from the sink and set it on the freshly lit wood stove in the kitchen. "How's your end going Hermione?" he said turning his attention to sour dough biscuits, placing the stiff dough on a dented baking sheet.

"Wish I could say I felt like I was making progress," a girl setting down a book rubbing her throbbing head, bulling back strands of wavy bronze hair. "It's a lot of information, maybe none of it is related, and maybe it's all interconnected somehow."

"If you were the Dark Lord, where would you hide a sliver of your soul?" another boy with red hair and freckles entering the kitchen holding a rolled up map in his hand setting down next to Hermione. "Found it by the way," he said handing it to her.

"Thanks Ron."

"Any good news Harry?" Ron asked and the other boy slid the sheet into the oven.

The young man turned around, using a cloth to wipe off his calloused hands. His disheveled gunmetal black hair fell around his fatigued expression, like he had been carrying an unfair amount of weight for far too long. "Well," he said offhandedly. "We're having sourdough biscuits and vegetable beef stew."

"Beats lasts nights meal," Ron commented. "Load of rubbish really."

"You made lasts nights meal," Hermione reminded him.

"Oh yeah… that makes sense now," Ron agreed scratching his chin, intentionally making himself appear deep in thought.

Harry chuckled warmly at his two dear friends. He tossed the rag on the table, his hands trembling uneasily without anything to preoccupy them for a moment until he started to clear the kitchen table of items he had scattered about. Omnioculars painted dark gray and green camouflage, half a dozen charges of enhanced exploding potion, a special knife he invented himself a few years back that clipped onto his wand giving him an additional weapon in engagements as well as bracing the wand itself preventing the wand from snapping in two. He got plenty of strange looks whenever someone saw his wand mounted bayonet, until he told them it was responsible for the scar across Voldemort's ugly asshole of a face from his forth year. Harry fixed his wand in the bayonet he just finished cleaning and placed it on a holster that hung on his thigh.

He recalled the day he fought nearly to his death to protect the sorcerer's stone, killing Professor Quirrell with his bare hands, and spoke with Professor Dumbledore after staggering into his office with it clenched tightly into his bleeding fist, his friends standing behind him. After that day when Dumbledore, after being heavily persuaded with the stone held as ransom for the truth, he told him of the prophecy that concerned him and Voldemort.

Since then he honed his skills of warfare and various talents, continually using Hermione as a training aid or Ron as a suitable sparring partner. Pestering professors after class on difficult attack spells or theoretical methods of combining muggle warfare tactics with magic. Fred and George came in as very useful suppliers quite often, always providing the latest in magically enchanted gear. He still couldn't get them to be able to make a magical variant of a mini-gun.

During summer breaks Harry was able to get himself involved with military training within the muggle military, with aid and permission from Dumbledore. It was interesting as a young teenager training with muggle British soldiers who were enchanted to not notice his youth. Dumbledore had always addressed how he had resented Harry discarding his childhood and innocence for his lifetime campaign against the dark arts.

He expanded his methods of combat bridging the gap of muggle warfare and magical conflict in a way never done before. When he was encouraged by schoolmates in his fifth year to train them into competent adversaries against the dark arts he trained school children how to fight as a cohesive unit. The battle in the ministry of magic that year, although completely a victory, had turned children into killers. Dumbledore cried that night in front of Harry for making the youth he saw over into soldiers now irreversibly tangled in a war of hatred.

He had expanded his personal sacrifice of youthful innocence onto others that year and he never stopped hating himself for it.

"Something wrong Harry?"

"Voldemort is not dead already," he muttered grudgingly. He thought of saying sorry for sounding angrier than he intended, but just stayed silent as he strapped the rucksack flap shut.

He hated himself on how harsh he'd become. You can't fight a war and still be kindhearted; you had to lock yourself down if you expect to be of any use. Maybe he'll be able to revert and change himself into the person he would have been without this madness once it was ever.

He knew that would never ever happen.

"Easy there," Ron said breaking Harry's train of thought as his dependable snowy owl, Hedwig, soared over the table with a folded up piece of parchment. Something about the nature of the message said urgent, not to mention the attitude his feathery pet seemed peculiar.

"I got a bad feeling," Harry said unfolding the letter and looking at the scrawled message.

Harry-

Location shrieking shack compromised

Masks enroute, V uncertain

Hogwarts under slytherin uprising

All teachers combat inefective

DA engaging hostile forces in the dungeons

More enemies heading to the whomping Willow to cut of an escape

Will proceed ASAP to counter attack

EXFILL NOW AND GO TO HOGWARTS BY TUNNEL

Ginny

"Shit," Harry hissed after he authenticated the letter by setting the parchment on fire with his wand and seeing a shadowy image of a horse. "We're compromised, go for the tunnel! Move!" he yelled grabbing his rucksack. "Gear and intell only!"

"Fucking bloody hell," Ron said looking out the window. "There a shit load of them – INCOMING!" he bellowed crouching behind the kitchen counter.

Fatal green jets of energy ripped through the shrieking shack, splinters and plaster fragments zinging through the air. Harry ducked low and charged out of the kitchen drawing his wand. "Get the fuck out of here!" he bellowed as the entire structure was riddled with Killing Curses from multiple flanks.

"Right behind you!" Ron yelled from the kitchen as Harry grabbed Hermione by her shoulder, knocked over by the initial volley of curses that hit the shack. A dingy curtained window burst open sending glass shards down his collar and into his hair. Hermione stuffed the last precious book into her pack and ran to the hallway leading to the stairs, Harry right behind her.

He pushed off the wall to redirect his momentum towards the stairs, as deadly green blasts seemed to nip at his heels. A jet of death snapped past Harry hissing by between his legs while in full stride sending wood splinters into his thighs. He staggered somewhat due to the pain and caught himself on the banister at the top of the stairs.

The front door at the bottom of stairs blew open right in front of Hermione knocking her over as three Death Eaters rushed in.

"Masks breaching interior!" Harry yelled lifting his wand sending an orange spike of magical heat that connected dead center with pale white mask that faced him. He could see his eyes fade out as the cranium blew open from the back of his head in bright red tan fragments. Harry leapt from halfway down the stairs and lunged his bladed wand into the second Death Eater's sternum casting an ice-fragmentation curse to blow out his back and continue into the third Death Eater who took several icicles to the neck. He fell to the ground grabbing his gurgling neck, eye's bulging wide.

Hermione who had just gotten up placed a killing blow to the wounded man's chest just before mouthing the word "please" through bloody bubbles that gushed from his mouth.

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her down the hallway to the basement stairs narrowly dodging a collapsing ceiling strut. He lunged himself at the closed door splitting it down the middle.

Hermione ran into the back of Harry knocking him down the stairwell to the safety of the basement. Harry toppled down the stairs cursing before he hit the cold stone basement floor, Hermione then landed on top of him knocking the wind out of him.

"Still alive?" Harry asked her breathlessly.

"Yeah, Ron, you're okay?" she said getting up.

Harry looked around for his friend. During the excitement he hadn't noticed his absence. His chest tightened painfully as he looked at her with water green eyes.

"Said he was right behind us…" Hermione breathed in distress just a section floor from above broke apart and clattered to the floor during the ongoing siege of the shrieking shack.

She turned around without hesitation back up the stairs, Harry instinctively lunged for her throwing his arms around her waist. "No!" he screamed at her, "we got to go!"

"RON!" she wailed trying to climb up the stairs.

"I can't lose you too Hermione!" Harry told her pulling the struggling teen back down the stairs. "We need to get out of here!"

For all he knew he could be hurt and needed help, but even if that were true trying to save him and getting killed in the process would be useless. Harry hated himself more than ever as he put his full strength into holding her down despite her clawing at his arms.

Somehow she managed to twist herself around in his vice grip and reel back a potent fist, and then plunged it forcibly into his face knocking him to the ground.

Damn, she could deliver a punch when she ever got the spirit to, that's was for sure.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled through his bleeding nose at her as she charged up the stairs.

Just as she had nearly gotten to the top a figure appeared at the doorway lunging himself downward. Harry worried that it was anther Death Eater for a moment, but when he saw that freckled face collide painfully into the top of Hermione's head as they tumbled down the stairs stopping at Harry's feet.

"You all in one piece there mate?" Harry said helping him up.

Ron groaned in pain rubbing his visage. "Fuck, my face."

"I'll give you a chance to recall that request," Harry said grinning at his friend slapping him on the shoulder.

Hermione smiled at the jest despite the cataclysm only several feet above their heads as the dwelling was shredded apart by enemy fire. Leave it to this trio to find humor whilst someone is trying to kill them… again.

"I rigged the stove with your exploding potions," Ron said to Harry as he pushed a crate aside revealing a secret tunnel that led to Hogwarts. "We need to move before it blows."

"How much did you put in there?" Hermione asked following him down the tunnel

"Like, uh, all of them. Plus the weird blue stuff you were working on Harry."

Harry who followed behind them choked, "Shit Ron, we need to get the hell out of here."

"Trying," Ron said navigating down the dark meandering tunnel that lead to Hogwarts grounds.

"Anything in the basement could go shooting down this tunnel like a fucking cannonball Ron, step it up mate!" Harry urged.

A green curse shoot past Harry from behind him striking a stalactite making it, somehow a group of Death Eaters had caught up to them. "Contact, rear!" Harry yelled sending several nonverbal stunning charms back at them to hold them down. "Keep moving, I'll hold them off!"

Harry ducked behind a boulder as several more curses flew at him leaving sizzling black marks in the stone.

Just as Harry jumped out of his cover to lay a barrage of magical fire down just when a white flash flared at the end the tunnel. Harry had just enough time to realize that the whole shrieking shack had just vaporized.

The shockwave from the magical explosion passed through the Death Eaters instantly igniting them aflame, Harry's enchanted olive drab combat garb repelled the heat however the percussive shockwave slammed into his chest like a freight train launching him down the tunnel while shrapnel perforated his body. While tumbling in the air and ricocheting of the stone ceiling he noticed Ron covering Hermione in the prone, practically squashing her, just before he slammed into the ground again on his back, knocking the wind out of him and cracking one of his ribs.

"Shit," he grunted lifting himself slightly shooting several spells right above his two friends finishing off the burning Death Eaters flailing around pathetically.

Ron got up off Hermione and told her to take point while he grabbed Harry by his collar and dragged him across the cobblestone floor keeping his wand trained to the rear moving towards the Whomping Willow.

"Fuck," Harry groaned in pain when they had reached the base of the deadly tree.

"You look like busted ass mate," Ron commented checking his wounds while Hermione kept her wand pointed at hole ensnared by roots above leading to the entrance to the Whomping Willow.

"Get this shrapnel out of me," Harry groaned.

"If I knock you up with pain reducers you won't be able to fight," he noted.

Harry gave Ron a determined look. "Do it."

Ron muttered the incantation holding his wand above Harry, ripping the shrapnel out of Harry's flesh exiting the same way it had penetrated him. Splinters, stone ships, several nails, and broken glass tore out of him.

Harry growled through gritted teeth and hissed profanities while doing his best to not tense his muscles, which would greatly increase the damage to his body.

When the process was over Harry breathed in the dusty subterranean air.

"Ok?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That was it?" Harry joked getting up, "I thought you said that was going to hurt." Harry felt his cracked rib throb painfully. He would have to tend to it later. "We need to get going. Ginny is leading the D.A. and is suppose to head off the enemy coming here to cut us off."

"What enemy?" Ron asked, not having read the note himself.

"Slytherin uprising," Harry said in disheartened tone.

"You mean the children?" Hermione said, her expression of disbelief.

Harry's grim expression said everything and yet nothing simultaneously. He removed his Omnoculars from his pack and climbed up to the small hole in the base of the tree switching them to night vision mode.

Peering through the darkness of the wood line with Hogwarts in the background, his heart throbbed dearly missing his younger years spent there, wasted in Voldemort's war.

A dark shrub seemed to sway against the wind; however opening fire on a suspected target could be fatal. Giving away one's position when another option could be formulated, or worse, fire upon friendly forces or innocent bystanders. Harry switched his Omnoculars to thermal vision and peered lifted them up to his eyes.

Hundreds of warm crouching silhouettes littered the surrounding terrain, a sharp cry echoed in the night. "Fire!"

Hundreds of florescent curses rushed through the air toward Harry who ducked down, missed by inches, in the safety of the hole. Spells impacted against the side of the Whomping Willow sending it berserk thrashing about wildly.

"Shit," spat Harry noticing that smoke had began to waft up the tunnel from the shrieking shack.

"What the fuck happened?" Ron asked helping Harry up.

"I think every Fucking mental Slytherin is under direct orders of Voldemort to kill me. It has to be over two hundred out there. I'm pretty sure I even saw first years too."

"What the hell," Hermione deplored not wanting to tolerate the horrible circumstances. "What do we do?" She asked, a steely resolve forming in her eyes.

Harry hardened his soul, intentionally freezing it for what would have to ensue for him to survive the night. "Kill'em all," he uttered in a gnarled voice obtained throughout years of combat. He dug into this pack and dug out nine vials of exploding potion, and handed three to each of his friends.

"This is so fucked up," Ron said coughing through the smoke that had begun to plume through the tunnel, his voice barely heard over the hostile fire embedding into the enraged tree.

"It's not like we got another option," Hermione rationalized.

"No one will ever be able to call us the good guys if we get out of here alive," Ron said.

"Fuck public image," Harry hissed brazenly. "We didn't put them here to try to kill us, that cock sucking Voldemort did that. They just conformed to his fucking disease."

Ron nodded looking at the ground clutching his three exploding potions in his left hand, looked at Harry with a grimace prepared for battle. "What's the plan?"

"Full charge really. Hermione, there's a lot of distant targets on the right flank, you got good aim, but you can't stop to take a shot, keep moving and stay close. Just suppress them if you have too."

"Right." Hermione agreed

"Ron, you got left. There's a lot of obstacles you'll have to bound over, lot of low lying threats up close I bet, you need to be quick to take them out and keep up. Use your exploding potions to flush them out."

"Got it. Where are they the most dense?" Ron asked.

"Front and center, so I'm taking it," Harry explained. "Push through them and get to Hogwarts where we can loose them in the structure and fortify ourselves until we can link up with the D.A. If I go down keep going."

"Never," Hermione refused.

"You can't have everything your way Harry," Ron said with a smile despite the circumstances.

Harry sighed acknowledging this fact, knowing that arguing would be pointless. "Right then, let's do this," Harry spat in a grizzled voice chucking one of his potions out the hole, the massive explosion disorienting the Whomping Willow and providing a distraction giving them an opening.

Without any regard for their own personal safety, or hesitation in any form, the three friends charged out the hole, dazzling curses lit up the night exploding in spectacular plumes of deadly energy.

"EX-Ps out!" Ron hollered over the din of battle chucking two of his exploding potions into a cluster of trees, a gigantic fiery blast whooshed into the night sending burning bodies of children of all year hurling through the air eagle spread. The red haired wizard placed reflexive fire upon figures trying to flee from the initial explosion and ensuing inferno.

Hermione lifted her wand blasting distant silhouettes half exposed behind their cover, nimbly ducking beneath incoming fire, she slung a single potion into the air above a dense cluster of threats and carefully shot it while in mid jump over a fallen tree. "Air-burst EX-P!" she enounced a moment before the potion shredded multiple enemies, detonating at standing shoulder height, and had knocked over a whole tree sending several Slytherins attempting to flee from the hazard only to be quickly and accurately cut down by Hermione.

Harry lead the middle advance with his friends covering both flanks of their counterattack casting multiple curses in rapid succession eradicating numerous attackers with expert precision.

A wave of Slytherins stormed at Harry and his two friends in a frontal assault. Without a moment spared he lobbed his second to last exploding potion at the main body of the rushing offensive movement obliterating the psychotic foes in a swarm of merciless flames.

Using his bladed wand he slashed at a disoriented sixth year's throat forsaking the girl to bleed to death in his wake. "Keep moving!" he barked at his companions while spells glanced of the ground and trees, a churning flood of various hexes and curses darted about the imperiled trio.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry howled jumping over a recently fallen tree that was still aflame from his own exploding potion slashing his wand horizontally cutting a dozen Slytherins in half at the waist or chest, save for one girl which was decapitated because she was so young and little.

"Bombarda Maxima!" Harry yelled again aiming his wand dead center of a fifth year's chest who would have shot him with a curse that would have made his lungs and esophagus-lining blister and bleed causing asphyxiation had he not ducked just in time. The boy's torso energetically disintegrated like a flower opening in fast forward. His ribs splayed open sending chunks of ribs into nearby Slytherins who fell dead to the ground instantly, aside for one who had four inches of rib protruding out of his eye socket, the bloody gelatinous remains of his eyeball oozing down his horrorstruck features. He drooped his wand screaming in agony while clutching his mutilated face.

Harry leapt high into the air while a killing curse shot underneath him. He landed on the ground cat-like and used the palm of his free hand to propel the rest of the rib into the wailing child's brain.

Hermione and Harry simultaneously perforated the seventh year that successfully cast an unforgivable curse at him, burning and riddled with a half dozen magically summoned arrows, his corpse crumpled to the ground.

Ron threw his last exploding potion at another cluster of students while the three bounded through the woods infested with Slytherin defectors. "Ex P out! All ordinance exhausted!" he said before a fiery crack of death plumed instantaneously consuming more lives in a single heartbeat.

Harry leapt in front of Ron for a moment screaming "Protegro!" and reflecting back a Reductor Curse, incinerating the third year Slytherin, which was intended for his friend.

Harry interrupted Ron halfway through expressing gratitude with "Shut the fuck up and RUN!"

Harry's body was saturated with raging adrenaline; his chest heaved air like a forge's billows in overdrive, burning through oxygen to fuel his muscles to metabolize stored energy into motion. The whole chemical process produced sweltering heat and his body responded by producing sweat to evaporate and lower his body temperature.

He broke through the last segment of foliage while the thorns from a bush he dashed past tore his left cheek, opening to a vast expanse of grassy meadows. The majestic outline of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sparkled in the night.

Finally they had broken through the enemy formation, but he knew the Slytherins would regroup and peruse them. They would have to push themselves to escape before too long.

"Stamina charms!" he advised his friends quickly looking left and right to check that they were still behind him. He cast spell on himself to cool his body off so he didn't over heat and another enchantment to reinvigorate his cardiovascular system and oxidizing the blood that coursed through him.

The barrage of spells they had just escaped had returned as the still determined Slytherins had continued firing at them and continued to hunt them down. Now in the open running over a vast clearing all three knew this would be treacherous.

Hermione cast a particular spell at her last exploding potion to reassemble the potion to yield thick concealing smoke rather than the typical shock wave of fire. "Deploying smoke! All ordinance exhausted!" she yelled tossing it over her shoulder.

Spells blindly pierced the cloud of smoke that had instantly materialized behind them, a stream of blue energy snapped right past Harry's ear and shrank into the darkness beyond.

Another snap just like the one before, but incomplete, and slightly father away made Harry concerned.

A shriek of pain called out as he heard someone hit the ground.

"Fuck," Harry exhaled looking behind him at Ron laying on the ground. "Ron's down, cover me Hermione!" he screamed turning around and rushing up to his friend.

Hermione joined by his side firing suppressing hexes to hold the enemy at bay.

"Son of a bitch," Ron whimpered as Harry reached him, a foot long icicle was stuck in his calf going through his entire bone.

"You fucking bastards!" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs emotionally charged spell at several Slytherins that had closed in. The scorching white flames that poured out of here wand completely incinerated them.

Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him onto his good leg hoisting him so Ron's torso was balanced on his shoulders into a fireman's carry. "Hang in there, mate," he encouraged running away from the advancing Slytherins.

Harry heard someone rush up behind him and Ron scream "Incendio!" apparently killing them.

"Harry, we're not going to make it," Hermione told him now that they were slowed down carrying Ron.

"Redirect to Hagrid's place, we'll hold them off in there best we can!" he decided.

Ron swore at himself while Harry hauled him on his back.

Hermione veered slightly, taking them across the meadow to Hagrid's rebuilt brick hut from when Death Eaters the year before burned it down.

Trying to keep a full sprint while underneath Ron's weight was demanding despite hours a day spent working out. Ron being on his shoulders made him top heavy and had to place additional effort for each stride. His cracked rib burned furiously, he could feel the disks in his spine compress and the cartilage in his knees ground like herbs between a mortar and pedestal, but Harry pushed himself despite his pain.

When they had reached the half-giant's hut Hermione swiftly kicked the door open, the wood around the bolt lock in the doorframe splintering. Hermione scuttled into the hut crouching low, clearing every corner carefully, scanning all three rooms, kitchen, bedroom, and living area.

"Building clear!" she announced.

Harry came in the front door she had kicked open while Hermione threw everything on the dinner table off in a clattering mess. She helped him set Ron on the table.

Ron wouldn't be able to fight with the icicle still in his leg. Without warning him Harry yanked the icicle out of his leg and pressed his bare hand on his gushing wound as hard as he could.

"FUCK!" Ron wailed kicking wildly while Hermione held him down and spoke encouraging words to him. "SHIT FUCK GOD DAMNIT FUCK!" He continued to scream.

Harry removed some dittany from his magical first aid kit. "Hermione, get the dittany from your M-FAK," he told her.

Hermione handed him her supply of dittany. He applied both vials to Ron's wound, who was breathing intensely through clenched teeth. "Hermione, barricade the hut and hold them off. I'll be there in a minute."

"I got to go Ron, be strong," she said before kissing him on the cheek and heading to the kitchen.

"How – how's it look?" he said croakily, holding back a few tears.

"Dittany isn't working so well on this artery, this won't hurt as bad as before, but brace yourself mate." Harry said before applying a clamp to the artery.

Ron swore through his teeth. "Can we-we save the l-leg?" he whimpered, going through the phases anyone would in his situation. Hermione could be heard in the next room, fighting off over a hundred Slytherins by herself, curses began to riddle the side of the building.

"If we get you to the right people soon," Harry said without sugarcoating his situation. "Dump this down mate," he said handing him a blood-replenishing potion.

While Ron drank the red vial of blood-replenishing fluid Harry applied a bandage over his wound, wrapping it snug to hold in the bleeding, but made sure with a quick spell to confirm that circulation was running through the leg.

"Harry?" Ron croaked, barely pronouncing the 'r' in his name.

"Yeah mate?" Harry said using two large wooden spoons to make a splint for his fractured bones.

"Sorry for getting hit, I didn't want to fuck you over like this. I should've ran faster."

Harry nearly cried right then, his friend was apologizing for getting hit by enemy fire.

"I want to let you know if this is it Harry, I don't regret anything. You're the best friend I ever had. I'd do it all again if I could. I'd fight a hundred wars worse than this one next to you if I had too. No fucking way I'd change this shit if I could."

"Shit Ron. You know this is all my fault for befriending you from the start."

"I don't fucking care about that bullshit."

Harry finished the splint. "That's the best I can do right now. Feel like fighting for a change?" he asked, knowing he had no right to ask more out of him.

"Hell fucking yeah," Ron said, his hands brandishing his wand

Harry lifted his friend carefully and moved him to where Hermione was in the kitchen. Firing spells off out the window at the Slytherins who had them surrounded. "Burn in hell you fucking ass holes!" she screamed at them, pouring a charring beam of lightning out from her wand.

"How are you doing Hermione?" Harry asked setting Ron down on the floor with his back against a wall.

"They're holding position a hundred meters off! I saw a whole bunch run around headed to the kitchen."

"Alright Ron, I good got an angle for you. Someone goes through the bedroom window or through the front door, kill the living shit out of them," Harry explained hastily.

"Rodger," Ron agreed.

"Do we have any EX-P's left?" Hermione asked.

"Negative!" Ron said after killing a Slytherin who jumped through the front door Hermione kicked down earlier.

"I have one EX-P left!" Harry yelled back over his shoulder arriving in the kitchen, casting a spell that shot a blast of red-hot steel flechettes into two enemies trying to climb through the window.

"Use it on them then!" Ron yelled before transfiguring a Slytherin's blood into steam as he tried to climb through the window, the explosion of gore made the whole brick residence wobble uneasily.

"Do you want to be taken alive?" Harry inquired firing a torrent of molten iron out of the kitchen window killing several Slytherins and forcing others to withdraw to a safer distance.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Harry, her expression greatly disheartened. She knew what Death Eaters did to survivors. The fact that their own classmates would do that to them was a harsh reality she did not want to accept.

"You got to be fucking mental Harry! Last fighter standing blows us all up?" Ron hollered.

"I don't have any other ideas damn it! If you got better let me know!"

"So this is it?" Hermione said to both of them.

"Could be," Harry said drearily, his voice barely carried to them over the pandemonium of battle.

"Hell of a way to go out at least," Ron commented.

Hermione gave Ron a tearful glance, "Ron-"

"-Me too," was all he said. "I know…"

Harry pelted the mob outside his window vigorously. A burning hot amber hex impaled the kitchen wall destroying a whole cupboard full of oversized chinaware. Specks of molten glass splattered over the whole room. He lifted an arm to cover his face while the searing hot liquid glass burned his skin along his left arm and upper body. Clenching his teeth and ignoring the smell of his own burnt flesh he continued to place spell after spell at Voldemort's slave-children who seemed to broil and dance aggressively in the distance with the flickers and flashes of magical combat.

Using the rupture in the wall where the cupboard had been he shoot down a second year boy with long black hair who was rushing him holding a large object. The item he clutched detonated destroying Hagrid's pumpkin patch, showering dirt, vines, and orange mush all about. Rocks and clumps of topsoil pattered on the thatched roof above.

Something soft struck Harry painfully in the chest and plopped at his feet. He sparred a glance down to see a seared and mangled bare foot on the floor. Shaking off the mental trauma he warned Hermione. "We just got a suicide erumpent horn! Heads up if there are more!"

"Rodger that!" she replied just after sending a deadly spell into cluster of opponents attempting to perform a combined cast completely reducing them to powdered ice. "Be advised: enemy attempting combined cast!"

"Rodger!" Harry acknowledged casting a whirlwind of broken glass and splinters he magically gathered from the floor, spreading out like an enormous shotgun blast into the multitude of Slytherins outside. "How are you doing Ron?"

Ron applied a spell into a fifth year's abdomen ripping the lower half of her body completely off of her upper. Chunky bits of bright red and brown intestine sprayed about the room. "Section secure! Holding up!"

"Keep it up!" Harry encouraged ducking letting a killing curse whiz past him and returned the favor at the sixth year, casting a spell that sent Hagrid's kitchen knives flying straight through his shield charm and into his fleshy mortal body.

"INCOMING!" screamed Hermione jumping on top of Ron protecting him an instant before an immense explosion devastated the living room side of Hagrid's hut. Half the roof caved in, timbers and burning straw rained down upon the three friends who laid low while bricks from the blow out wall shot across the building. Dust and smoke inundated the air displacing oxygen.

Harry weakly lifted himself off the ground, bricks slid off his body, beaten and bruised. His rib burned painfully, nose bleeding, burned and scratched. Half delirious he looked for his wand somewhere in the rubble and the half destroyed hut.

"Hermione? Ron?" he croaked before the back door burst open and a massive seventh year Slytherin bolted into the room wand raised. He had deep dull eyes with brown hair that grew to his forehead almost Neanderthal-like.

Gregory Goyle…

Instinctively Harry used a barehanded knife disarming technique that worked just as well on wands sending it scattering into the debris of the hut and spun about placing a powerful elbow into the side of his neck. He followed up with two swift punches to his chest and attempted to round house kick him in the head.

Goyle grabbed leg and swung him into wall overpoweringly and drooped the entire bulk of his enormous body on top of Harry. The broken rib in his chest burned in agony, the breath was forced out of his lungs while Goyle picked up a brick with his meaty first and tried to bash Harry's skull apart.

Harry lifted his two arms up guarding the blows that landed on his forearms nicking and pounding him. He tried bucking his hips to throw Goyle off of him who was far too gigantic. He employed several harmer strikes with his fist into Goyle's solar plexus and jutted a fist into his jaw when he cringed down.

Harry roared in pure rage using his right hand to grab his right ear and another to grasp Goyle's collar and swung him into the brick wall over and over.

Goyle seized Harry by his olive drab tunic and lifted him off the ground and then slammed him brutishly into the ground.

Harry's cranium bounced off the hard wooden floor, stars and blobs of light flew about his vision as he tried to focus on the overwhelming brute that still sat on his pelvis and was intent on crushing him to death.

Goyle forced Harry to slide along the ground, ramming him through bricks and timber, pushing his head next to an open woodstove that was aflame and well stoked.

Harry put both his hands up to stop himself just before his entire head was plunged into a pile of flaming logs. His skin began to char and his hands were pressed up against the metal stove.

Goyle began to laugh hysterically in Harry's face an inch away, the stench of his foul breath made Harry even more furious. "You're going to fucking burn you piece of shit," he taunted with a malicious grin. "Just give up and die you little fucking bitch," he hissed venomously.

The image of having his head held in the fire trashing around while his brain was torched to a crisp was not how he planned to die if he had any choice in it. He was going to live to see Ginny at least once more.

Harry lunged one of his hands in the woodstove and grabbed a burning log with his bare hands. He forced the burning timber into Goyle's face forcing him to retreat and brush the embers out of his eyes.

With his burnt hands Harry grabbed an iron fire poker that was lying on the floor nearby bellowed ferociously charging at Goyle.

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" Harry spat at the top of his lungs forcing the fire poker deep into his belly, twisting the hooked end inside him.

Goyle howled in terror, his cries resonating across the Hogwarts grounds. He staggered backwards until his back was up against the wall. "WAIT!" he bawled tears pouring from his bloodshot eyes as Harry yanked the fire poker from his stomach, the hook tore a piece of his entrails so that they hung outside like an exposed hernia.

"YOU FUCKING COCK SUCKING SHIT HOLE!" Harry hollered stabbing him over and over in the gut. His heart pumped furiously what must have been black lava coursing through his veins. His fury escalated to insanity, he snarled like a rabid beast, growling and shouting louder than he had ever before.

While vigorously and rapidly spearing Goyle in his stomach who had screeched like a wounded animal the fire poker had somehow became bright red-hot even though it had not been in the fire at all. Harry could feel to radiance of the heat against his face dry the sweat that rushed out of him.

Goyle looked at Harry with sorrowful eyes, begging for a genuine act of human kindness from his fellow classmate. "_I-I'm sorry Harry-ry… P-please…don't_," he pleaded dearly for his own life in the most delicate whisper.

"FUCKING BURN IN HELL YOU FUCKING WORTHLESS CUNT!" Harry exclaimed with the bitterest hatred he had ever done before in his entire life, just before gouging the bright cherry red fire poker underneath Goyle's jaw. Goyle reached towards him, his fingers tips caressing his face almost lovingly while staring straight into his green eyes while Harry plowed the fire poker deeper inside his head.

Goyle's mouth gaped in pure anguish while the hooked iron rod gashed and burned its way upward. His body trembled hauntingly while he became cross-eyed, his gray matter slowly being cauterized and pierced. His hands still remained out stretched gently touching Harry's snarling face until the fire poker struck the backside of his skull and he slumped over with a gush of breath seeping from his widely spread mouth. The sound reminded Harry of a Dementors's soulless breath.

Harry noticed his wand on the ground not far away and picked it up staggering over to where his friends where while curses continued to riddle what was left of the hut. "Hermione! Ron!" he called best he could after screaming himself hoarse while pulling timbers away and unearthed Ron who lifted his wand pointing it at Harry's face.

His face of complete terror as he nearly cast a deadly blow right at Harry, but stopped himself at the last second. "Fuck Harry," he wheezed lowering his wand.

Hermione laid unconscious in Ron's lap, blood trickling from her wavy bronze hair.

Harry ducked as a spell flew over his head as Hagrid's half standing hut was slowly being reduced to a nest of rubble around them. "Here's the last EX-P Ron," said handing it to him.

"You blow us up! I can't do that shit!" Ron protested embracing Hermione preciously.

"They only want me," Harry said wiping the blood that trickled from his nose. "You might still have a chance."

"No Harry! We're supposed to stay together! What the fuck!" Ron screamed as Harry left the exploding potion with him and began to cover Ron again in timbers and debris so that no one may be able to see him.

"Bye," he said throatily holding back tears.

It was time for one last charge.

Harry scavenged Goyle's wand that laid in the corner of the kitchen as Ron screamed for him to come back. He drew in a cold shuddering breath.

"Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy," Harry quoted the wisest mentor he had the honor of knowing, Albus Dumbledore.

Harry sprinted out the shack leaving his friends behind him. He lifted his wand and Goyle's shielding himself with one and firing the other at the lunatic Slytherins that were shocked to see him charge headlong.

Curses and hexes flew at him ubiquitously rebounding of his shield charm. Harry continued to fire spell after spell into the encircling force, killing Slytherin after Slytherin. Death rained upon Harry who defiantly refused it to happen without a fight.

A thin stream of fire burned through his summoned shield and grazed his left shoulder causing him to drop Goyle's wand on the dewy grass. He somersaulted while a multitude of hexes flew over him and leapt up to summon a javelin made out of obsidian to impale a Slytherin's neck and planted itself in the ground leaving the student to die while being supported upright.

A seventh year cast ten feet in front of him cast disarming spell wrenched the wand from his hand. Harry slugged the disarming student straight in the face as hard as he possibly could and briskly wrung his neck in his arms. He could feel the vertebrae shatter and crunch.

Before he could find his wand or a replacement a measly stunning spell, violet in color rather than the red it should have been, struck him in the chest throwing him down in a puddle of cold gritty mud.

Harry tried to breath, but the wind was knocked out of him. He tried to stand weakly, but someone ran up and kicked him straight in the stomach and pointed their wand right in his face.

"Hold up! Not yet!" he could here Vincent Crabbe say as he ran up to him. Harry was desperately trying to block kicks from landing a significant blow by blocking with his forearms.

He managed to grab someone's foot and plant the heel of his boot in his testicles, but then someone had stomped right on top of his face, making the whole attempt futile.

Surrounded with numerous wands trained on him Harry heard the unzipping of pants as several students, including Crabbe began to urinate on him. The warm filthy liquid burned his wounds as he accidentally inhaled some of it spewing on his face and coughed.

Hundreds of Slytherins began to guffaw and snort in amusement at Harry's torture and degradation. He lifted his left hand presenting a middle finger for them all to see in a last ditch effort to resist them in spirit.

Crabbe stomped on Harry's hand, he could feel his bones crack in his hand and cried out in pain. Over a Hundred Slytherins cheered in delight at his defeat and suffering.

"Now you're going to fucking get it Potter!" Crabbe sputtered sadistically.

Harry heard stories of Death Eaters torturing and raping their victims to death. Usually leaving their bodies presented with the genitals severed and placed in their mouths, or having their heads owled to their family. This would be the most disgusting way to die.

"Now for the good part," Crabbe hissed in a spiteful manner.

"FULL SPECTRUM ENGAGING FIRE!" a loud and sudden cry echoed in the night over Hogwarts grounds. Harry knew that voice from anywhere, Ginny.

All the Slytherins turned to face the sound of the kill order in disbelief just before an unfathomable volley of multicolor magic rushed at them. The sound of hundreds of wands letting of each their own spell all at once was astounding alone without the spells tearing over him.

Dozens and Dozens of bodies fell hitting the ground with the life stripped out them. The Slytherins fell back away from the D.A. that closed in and fired at them.

Typical that they were so bold in large numbers against three, but didn't have the same persistence when facing a force of equal size, Harry thought.

Before he knew it, Harry was lying crippled in between the two forces of opposing students. One stood for Slytherin and pure blood dominance and their own personal agenda, the other stood for equality and respect of all living beings.

Harry slowly pushed himself across the wet ground and crawled to where his wand laid in the soft moist grass. He clenched it firmly and fired an illumination charm into the air. A bright white ball of light rocketed into the air and hung over the Slytherins perfectly lit so they could be visible targets for the D.A.

They cringed in the blinding light while they where eradicated from the earth, undeserving to have ever been born on this magnificent world.

Harry cast one other spell making the tip of his wand strobe in red light, three short pulses, three long, and three short again. The D.A. noticed the SOS beacon, and made sure their precise and fatal fire did not hit him but passed by overhead.

"Alpha squad! Push forward and recover the downed man!" Ginny's voice carried out over the grounds.

"Affirmative!" a voice responded. "Beginning movement, cover us! Let's go get some you fucking bas-asses!"

The cascade of spells that interweaved with the Slytherins modified so a gap was allowed for a small unit to rescue Harry.

"Kill Potter before they get him!" Crabbe yelled out to his collaborating Slytherins.

Harry tuned his head to see a small group of D.A. moving at him firing spells at the Slytherins trying to close in on Potter. A spell brushed one of the student's legs who was briskly embraced by another and pulled up to continue the assault while being covered by the D.A.

Harry rolled himself back over and pointed his wand at the charging Slytherins and fired a few spells slowly and weakly being so injured.

Crabbe had ran up to Harry and aimed his wand at Potter's just and was nearly about to kill him when a figure leapt over him and tackled Crabbe and shot another Slytherin simultaneously.

"Fucking pussy!" Neville Longbottom howled in a deep tone before taking a giant knife and stabbing Crabbe straight in the heart.

The other dozen or so Slytherins had clashed with Alpha squad who huddled around Harry keeping him safe from the enemy who were hell-bent on erasing him.

Neville left Goyle's corpse behind and stooped over Harry. He grabbed him hurriedly with a surprising amount of physical strength and threw him on his shoulders. "Let's go! Let's go!" he yelled to the squad he was in charge over bounding across the field of battle while his squad formed a half circle and put up shield charms to protect their regroup with the rest of the D.A.

"Ron and Hermione are in Hagrid's hut!" Harry yelled into Neville ear so he could hear him. "He's got a EX-P on a dead man's switch, so don't surprise him!"

"Rodger! I will relay ASAP!" Neville yelled back reaching the D.A. lines. Student after student crouched shoulder-to-shoulder blasting away with their wands at the Slytherin force that had begun to diminish away in numbers. Clearly they were no match for the years of superior training and gallant commodore of one another.

"Ten plus Echoes on the right! Converge fire!"

"Rodger! Incoming indirect fire! Get down!"

Devastating explosions struck the earth from gigantic ached spells fired from the Slytherins who were putting up one last fight. The D.A. dived on the ground, many covering one another so that few as possible could get wounded.

"Get Harry to a secure location!" he could here Ginny say, but tried to look to where she was but couldn't make her out amongst the chaos of battle.

"Rodger! Be advised Ron and Hermione are in Hagrid's hut! Do not surprise them! They have and EX-P on a dead man's switch! Harry's hurt bad!"

"Bravo Squad! On me! We're going to get them or die trying!" Ginny voice barked commandingly. "Luna! Go with Neville!"

"I'd prefer not dieing if I have a choice bout' that," Colin Creevey commented jokingly as he got up from the ranks of the D.A. with others. "Stick by me Dennis!" he said to his little brother while they advanced towards Hagrid's hut with the rest of Bravo squad.

Harry heard someone yell "Fuck yeah!" enthusiastically from bravo squad as they flanked around towards what was left of the decimated hut.

Neville slowed down as to not jostle Harry so much as he departed the concluded battle.

"Harry?" Neville said in an undertone when the noise of the battle faded in the distance.

"Yeah?" Harry replied feebly

"Why the fuck do you smell like piss?" he whispered so no one else could hear.

"I don't want to talk about that…"

Neville hummed in response as he got Harry to a formation of boulders in middle of the ground and propped Harry so he sat up against it.

"Can I get some water?" Harry asked while a blonde Ravenclaw had begun to assess his wounds.

Neville reached into his cargo pocket and removed a small black hipflask and unscrewed the lip for him.

Harry took it and dumped it over his heard, washing the foul urine off of him and tried to catch his breath. The flask definitely had been enchanted to hold more water than possible. He swore in pain as Luna tapped his smashed hand with her wand and reset the bones into their proper place. She then healed all the bones with another incantation he himself had never been able to master.

Neville lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply before he took his water flask back from Harry. "Smoke?" he offered him.

Harry shook his head and lifted his now healed left hand. "No thanks."

"Neville," Luna said in her daydream like voice. "I'll ask you once and only once not to poison my patients with your self-destructive habits."

Neville grunted in understanding taking his squad with him back to the field where the battle had now ended.

"That bloke worries me sometimes," she commented.

Harry half chuckled, but stopped when she healed his ribs. "He's had it rough his whole life. People are changed by things like that."

"I was talking about you Harry," Luna said surreally. "But yes, he worries me too."

Harry rolled his eyes being caught off guard yet again by Luna. "Luna, is there ever going to be a day where I understand you entirely?"

"Do you understand anyone?" she asked peculiarly.

"I guess not, so long as you exclude Voldemort."

"And that's why you worry me," she said going back to what she had first said looking at him with large baby blue eyes. It was strange how she could be so unspecific and yet so correct all the time.

Luna had finished closing up all the shrapnel wounds in his body and healed the bruises and cuts that covered him. She had to take her time healing the burns on his hand, regenerating his skin with a think paste she pulled from her medical bag.

Harry grumbled while she had to remove a few beads of hardened glass inside him and healed them.

"You going to have a few more scars today Harry," she told him healing his nose as the finishing touch. "But you're good for now."

"Luna, thank you," Harry said gratefully. "Ron's leg was messed up real bad by the way. Hermione might be hurt too."

She nodded silently and left Harry by himself. He slowly got up and flexed his healed body, feeling just like he had earlier that day other than the fact he was still covered in blood and grime.

Harry popped his knee painfully and decided that he needed to see if anyone needed help. He turned around to have someone punched him in the jaw for no apparent reason. He fell to the ground completely taken off guard.

"What the-" he began to say.

"-Shut up," a girl with long fiery red hair and soft blue eyes said before kissing him passionately while pinning him to the ground.

Harry was just as stunned and absolutely love struck as the first time Ginny had kissed him.

"Ginny…" he breathed when she had finally broke from him and smiled while sitting on his pelvis. "Did you have to punch me in the face?"

"You deserved it," she said kissing him again.

"What happened here?" he said trying to stay on topic when she broke again. "Why didn't the teachers stop this?"

Ginny sighed with a depressed look. "They attacked them first, we only knew it was about to happen when we had a few Slytherins come to us and warn us before hand."

"Really?"

"Yes they tried to kill all the teachers!"

Harry was referring to the few Slytherins that sided with them, after all he had been through with the house of Salazar Slytherin he found it difficult any would have had a change of heart. He figured that he should not say that right now. "How bad?"

"Flitwick, Slughorn, Filch, and Sprout are dead. They ambushed a staff meeting," she said holding back what must have been tears. "We got the rest to Madam Pomfrey. Hagrid is going to lose a leg I think…"

Harry sat up so she slid in his lap and hugged her. "How are Ron and Hermione?"

"Hermione is okay now, Luna nearly has Ron back together. Looks like you three had it bad yourself."

"We always do," Harry reminded her getting up. "Is anyone in the D.A. down?"

"We had a few close calls, but no fatalities."

"That's good to hear, and surprising actually." Harry got up and began to walk down to where the D.A. had reassembled.

Harry could see Neville smoking his cigarette looking at Crabbe's dead body in the distance. He could hear him mutter, "Fuck-wad" and turn his back on the field of death joining the rest of the D.A. He flipped his but over his shoulder and exhaled a smoky sigh.

Hermione was with Luna working on Ron who was doing his best not to winch in pain as she finished healing him. "Why does getting healed have to hurt so much?" he complained.

"It wouldn't be fair otherwise," Luna snapped cynically.

Harry looked at the D.A. who gathered around him. He spat blood on the ground brusquely from Ginny's punch. "Where are the Slytherin informants?" he said with a mild growl in his voice.

Three nervous people stepped forward.

"What are you're names?" he said without hesitation while gripping his wand tightly.

"Steve Harper, sixth year," a blonde haired boy with dark brown eyes introduced, his eyes scanned Harry's wand and flicked over to the D.A. around him. Harry remembered him as a chaser last year.

"Joan Melanson, fifth year," a short girl said nervously brushing back her brown hair and gripping one of her arms. She kept her hazel eyes fixed on Harry despite her anxiety.

"And you?" Harry said to a younger boy with brown hair who hesitated.

Joan Melanson nudged him gently. "Neal Melanson, fourth year," he said quietly.

"Siblings…" Harry concluded under his breath, but everyone heard him over the uneasy silence. "I'd wouldn't be honest if I said I wasn't thankful for the difficult choice you made tonight." He could feel the D.A. about him hold their breath.

"Wasn't difficult at all," Harper spoke out correcting him.

"Well it will be now," Harry said in a low tone of regret. The three Slytherins looked horrified for a moment assuming Harry was going to turn on them. "Everyone here needs to go into hiding until I sort this nonsense out and kill Voldemort."

"Now wait just a minute!" Ginny blurted. "You can't be serious about trying to keep this up by yourself after all of this!"

Harry looked at her and suppressed the urge to explain that she was the last person he wanted to include on his campaign against Voldemort. He simply stared at her only expressing his concern through his otherwise blank face.

"Don't think it ends there," Neville interjected stepping forward lighting up another cigarette. "That fuck-face Voldemort is your kill, I give you that, but you aren't hogging the rest for yourself."

"Oi! Need someone to watch your back?" Dean Thomas offered Neville, cracking his knuckles.

"This is insane, but right now insane sounds better than the alternative," someone from behind Harry sad. He turned around to see it was Colin Creevey.

"Insane as it is, I'm in too," Terry boot agreed.

"Never underestimated to potential of stupid people in large groups. Count me in," Padma Patil said, despite her being a Ravenclaw.

"Hey! Were not stupid! Were bloody mental is all!" Ernie Macmillan insisted. "Can't say I wouldn't belong in that crowd."

"That crowd just go bigger," Someone else mentioned.

"I could never go into hiding, too boring."

"I can't hide for shit anyway."

"I suppose we need a witch who knows a few healing spells?" Luna brought up.

"So what the hell are the rest of you waiting for? A damn owl to deliver you an invitation?" Neville called out to everyone.

All around Harry found himself completely surrounded again, not by enemies however, but friends that wouldn't leave his side. He gave them all a stern glare.

"Do you have any idea how many of you are going to die?" he said in a cold voice. "Maybe all of us. You won't be going up against children, but highly trained Death Eaters and anything else Voldemort can pit against us."

"So?" Neville spat. "Better die fighting than live running away."

Everyone seemed to agree to that notion.

"I don't see any adults doing anything about this war. It's about time we did," Justin Finch-Fletchley concluded.

"If a war against all evil is going to happen in my life, I don't want to live an old meaningless life saying I only survived, I want to stand alongside friends and heroes fighting against that darkness!" Seamus Finnigan announced intrepidly.

There was no way now Harry would be able to talk his fellow classmates out of this one. "So much for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup," he said exasperatedly.

A fair number of students who knew him well as a Quidditch fanatic laughed at this.

"We move out in two hours," Harry said looking up at them. "Don't write your families, the letters could be intercepted. Grab your things including your books so we can still educate each other. I want all valuable supplies from Hogwarts we can carry and use for war taken with us," Harry ordered. "How about you three?" he said to the Slytherins that stood in front of him.

Neal Melanson beamed while his chest swelled with pride. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Neal's older sister chewed her fingernail for a moment. "I didn't think you'd ask, I'll never leave my brother behind that's for sure."

"We never leave anyone behind," Harry told her sternly and then looked at Harper for a response.

Harper crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not sitting this one out."

"All those if favor of our new members?" he presented to the D.A.

A unanimous cheer of approval echoed across the Hogwarts ground.

"Welcome to the war," Harry said with a gritty ferocity in eyes mixed with an encouraging half-smile. "Best mistake you'll ever make I bet," he added while sheathing his wand.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, that's my messed up story. I hope it isn't too obvious I need a beta reader. I know there are major character differences from the original, but I have noticed in a military like environment it does have a drastic effect on someone's persona.

As for the child soldiers notion it actually has been done before in real life. Normally these are more underdeveloped locations like Burundi, Chad, Congo, Colombia, and many other locations were you would see children as old as ten with an AK-47.

Not that I think it's acceptable in the least that this happens in the world, but in my story I must say that if it does happen elsewhere why can it not happen in a fictional world as well? After all in Harry's fifth year J.K.R. did write about the formation of the D.A. involving children of all ages leaning to fight when their government decided it was best that they be defenseless. And a year before that Harry was fighting Voldemort face to face in deadly combat.

She got an aspect of combat right to a certain extent in her books, but of course she didn't understand the full effect warfare has on a person or a group of people. We do become accustom to it as we do with anything else. It changes us in a way I have the hardest time explaining. I hope to figure out how to do that while I continue writing this story.

Other movies and stories have touched on this before as well. I remember watching the original Red Dawn movie, haven't seen the new one of course. And let's not forget that book I had to read in school, Lord of the Flies. I really don't think that was appropriate for a public school, but what can you do?

I'd like to mention I always notice in parts of the world terrorists or other similar types use children and civilians as soldiers, shields, and couriers for their personal ends. In response world militaries engage them because they've become the new threat. Then the side employing the children uses this event as propaganda, and the civilians of the larger countries with these militaries protest digging their heels in the ground, only dragging the whole thing out.

Of course in recent times politicians don't act on these issues with their elected power because they're afraid of getting a bad reputation. So it's better if they just let these parts of the world destroy each other.

It reminds a combat veteran like myself why I left in the first place instead of staying in for the standard twenty years. Too much bull shit from the people who don't go there. The last thing anyone needs when risking their life and forfeiting their 'innocence' that is lost in the military, is a gaggle of morons calling the shots like they understand what must be done from the opposite side of the planet with no face-to-face experience in such things. Every successful war (as successful as wars get) in history was never won by the decisions of distant politicians and civilian interference before, and I'm certain it never will.

Well that enough griping I guess.

For anyone who's curious there are a number of instances in this story based on personal realities. The part where Harry saves the exploding potion (magical variant of a hand grenade of course) for him and his friends for when they might need to off themselves is based off of how my armored vehicle was set up in Afghanistan. As tough as they where against IEDs, they have a nasty tendency to have the fuel tank go up and burn the occupants alive. The vehicle crew and I had decided together to rig a M67 fragmentation grenade on the dashboard so all we had to do was pull a large loop of 550 paracord and boom, no more suffering. It's pretty grim when that's your only guaranteed comfort.

I had a moment were I explained the physiology of running under fire, which I have my experience in. Rather than trying to explain it from a psychological perspective I instead decided to explain what the human body goes through when it is forced to that level of exertion. It is an adrenaline rush higher than anything else and perhaps the most exhausting thing I have, or probably ever, will do in my entire life.

I've never faced anyone in close quarters, or hand-to-hand combat, at least in a to-the-death circumstance, but I have had heard the direct accounts of other soldiers who have. They literally let their hearts flood with hatred in order to do what they must from what I've gathered. When I make the simile of 'black lava' going through Harry's veins I am very certain that's what happens to those in that situation. I based a number of techniques Harry used when fighting with Goyle on my training in the army. It's basically like what you see in the UFC octagon. Two dudes furiously struggling in a violent face-pounding fashion while each tries to obtain a dominant mount on the other.

The unrealistic part of that is the men who I spoke with do not recover from those events and live in perpetual anger and hatred had to leave their families unable to even look at them because they have been so inundated with killing. Basically they become feral. Harry in this story magically feels better minutes afterwards. My only possible explanation is that he killed Quirrell with his bare hands at age eleven. So maybe he's accustomed to it? I don't know.

I've heard of situations were small special forces teams, sniper or kill teams, or the like are separated from any support elements and find themselves surrounded by an outnumbering enemy. Normally in these cases there are few if any survivors and they know this from the beginning. When the trio is trapped in Hagrid's hut I was trying to get the 'fight to the last man' feeling without actually saying those words in the story.

The next chapter will be the D.A. relocating to a permanent location for a head quarters. So no real battles for that chapter and probably the one afterward. Any ideas where a hundred or more children can live in secrecy? I got one planned out already, but I like to hear people's ideas.

In upcoming chapters the D.A. will become more of a kinetic force than a responsive one. It's time they take back some ground. I have plans of where they will end up more or less, but how they get there is still somewhat a mystery. I like ideas and advice of those who have an interest in my story. And again I need a beta reader if anyone feels up to the task. I really can't have my little sister proof reading this now can I?


End file.
